MUZAFFARABAD: On Wednesday, the nation’s first Women’s Software Technology Park was opened at Fatima Jinnah Women’s Postgraduate College in downtown Muzaffarabad by the Special Communications Organization (SCO), a public-sector telecom provider in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).
At a ceremony attended by AJK Prime Minister’s Coordinator Asma Andrabi, Secretary of Information Technology Rashid Hanif, Director of Public Instruction Colleges Prof. Dr. Khawaja Abdul Rehman, Muzaffarabad Station Commander Brig Qaiser, SCO Sector Commander Col Yousaf Javed, Principal Huma Mufti, and numerous other officials, faculty members, and students, SCO Director General Maj-Gen Umar Ahmed Shah officially opened the facility.
The park, which was created specifically for women, provides a contemporary, safe, and fully furnished workspace for independent contractors, IT specialists, and business owners. In order to support women’s social and economic empowerment, it seeks to provide jobs, encourage entrepreneurship, and develop technical skills.
Following the inauguration, Maj-Gen Shah visited several areas of the park, spoke with young independent contractors, and gave them credit for their efforts. He also praised the modern amenities, which he claimed would guarantee a professional setting for women. These included high-speed internet, continuous energy, and sophisticated training infrastructure.
“SCO’s Vision 2025, which aims to increase women’s participation in technology and enable them to play a significant role in Pakistan’s growing digital economy, is reflected in the establishment of a dedicated technology park for women,” he said.
He pointed out that during the previous 20 months, SCO had set up 76 freelancing hubs and 17 software technology parks throughout Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan under IT Vision 2025, empowering over 1,500 freelancers and generating over 7,000 jobs.
He stated that the network would be expanded to 100 centers by the end of this month.
By highlighting the potential of AJK’s young, the Muzaffarabad park, the eighth in AJK, aims to promote women-led companies, close the digital divide, and increase Pakistan’s IT exports, he said.
Ms. Andrabi said the project would always be remembered as a turning point in women’s empowerment and praised SCO on what she described as a “historic achievement.”
She praised the organization for giving women freelancers a specialized place, noting that they had previously encountered many barriers to pursuing IT employment.
“They now have an easy pathway to compete with the international community and prove their talent in a safe and culturally secure environment,” she said.
She conveyed the desire that AJK’s women, especially students, would make good use of IT in order to become more independent and provide their families with precious foreign exchange.
The Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB) had previously declared intentions for a women-only Software Technology Park at Women University Bagh and had initially marketed it as the nation’s first facility of that kind, Col. Javed informed Dawn.
“It is SCO that now has the distinction of launching Pakistan’s first operational Women’s Software Technology Park with today’s inauguration in Muzaffarabad,” he added, adding that the project was still at least two months away from completion.
SOURCE: DAWN NEWS
